Last Trip as a Family of Four...to London!

As one last hurrah before the baby comes, Cole decided that it would be fun to take the boys and me on a little last minute, whirlwind trip to London. Cameron has been fascinated with the Eurostar train and the concept of traveling under the water that the ride on the train alone would have probably been enough for him. But add to that excitement, there is a race in London in the movie Cars 2, so Cameron and Harrison were both excited to see some of the things from the movie in real life. I was a little worried about whether or not I would be up for walking all over London, but Cole planned a wonderful and relaxed trip so all I had to do was show up and enjoy some sweet moments with the family. He really did plan everything...from the train tickets, to the apartment where we stayed, to shopping for the food, to all the activities and tickets involved, and all the getting around once we were in London. It was great. Here are some pictures from our adventure.

Despite the early departure hour, the boys were excited to get going.

Harrison doesn't look happy, but trust me, he was excited!

Cole decided that it would be best for us, for convenience, to stay in an apartment in the middle of London. The boys loved that they could see the London Eye from our window.

After settling in, eating lunch, and resting for a bit, we headed out for our first activity - The Aquarium

Harrison loved touching the star fish!

After the aquarium, we went to visit the London Eye

Walking on

Big Ben, or Big Bentley, as the boys know it from Cars 2

Next up, a visit to Big Ben. Please excuse the less than stellar photos...I'm still trying to figure out how to use my new camera.

After all that fun, we went back to the apartment, ate dinner, and headed to bed.

The boys loved riding the tube

Harrison refused to call the tube anything other than "the tuba"

An evening view of the London Eye from our apartment

The next morning, we fulfilled another one of the boys' wishes...to ride a big, double decker red bus. 

We also stopped to look at some of the iconic telephone booths

The plan for the morning was to visit the H.M.S. Belfast. 

We also saw the tower bridge while walking onto the ship

Running on board

Checking out a torpedo

We ran into the captain while we were walking through and he was kind enough to share his cap with the boys.

Please excuse the large belly...

Cameron thought it was cool that we were under the water

Boiler room

A view of the castle from the boat

The captain and his navigating officer

After visiting the boat, it was time for the boys and me to head back to Gent. I don't know if you remember the last long train ride I took with the boys by myself, but it was a disaster! I was worried that this would be similar, maybe even more difficult due to the late stage of pregnancy, but we actually had a great trip home. The boys were great and everything went very smoothly until about halfway home when I realized that I didn't have our brand new camera with me! I started freaking out and called Cole only to discover that he didn't have it either. The only place I could think that it would be was in the family bathroom at the train station in the middle of London. I set it down to change Harrison's diaper and never picked it back up! I was pretty sure it was gone and that I would loose all the pictures and memories from the trip. Additionally, did I mention that it's brand new?? Thankfully, Cole was able to get back to the train station and some good samaritan had turned it into lost and found. Cole picked it up from lost and found and I was able to calm myself back down and enjoy the rest of the trip home. Once we reached Brussels, we hopped on a train to Gent and headed home. Harrison provided the entertainment for us by talking to the "other Harrison" in the window for the majority of the 30 minute ride back to Gent.

This trip was wonderful for us as a family. We really enjoyed our time together because Cole was able to plan a relaxing, yet fun filled trip all at the same time. It was definitely much more relaxed than if I had planned it! :) We made some great memories, but now it's time for me to stay put and for all of us to really get ready for the baby to come!